The Little Crow

Chapter Forty Seven - [Planning]

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Niall was leaning against the side of the desk, stroking his beardless chin as he thought, Thea watching him intently.

His entire team was in his office right now, with Milo sitting in the seat to the right of her, Luana, Julian and Aaryan standing at attention to the right of them all, and Kaya sitting in Niall's usual spot on the other side of the desk.

Niall was closest to Thea, close enough for Thea to smell his cologne, and though she was quite aware of how close he was, she knew that his mind was racing as he tried to process everything Thea had said.

Everyone seemed to be aware of this, and in order to respect him and allow him to filter through his thoughts in peace, everyone remained silent for what felt like forever. "The president had mentioned something about how Rivier's daughter was killed... but he said it was a Crow who did it. Her body was apparently cut up into pieces."

Thea's eyes widened as she wondered if that was true. Though Rue got her hair in the mail after she was killed, he had no reason to know that extra detail... and Thea wondered if it would be best to keep it that way.

"I'd believe Rue over Rivier any day," Kaya mumbled. "It'd make sense for Rivier to come up with a lie like that, and the rest of the world would believe him without a second thought."

"Agreed," Niall said. "And though this is an unfortunate fact.... our priority right now is this Tai person, and the remnants of the remaining Crows. I suppose it's not a surprise that they are hiding in Kal. It would be the safest place for them."

"Yeah," Kaya agreed. "That entire region is considered a Crow's Nest, after all. Though I've never heard of Ilia."

Thea tried to imagine a detailed map of Karl in her head, to see if she knew anything about Ilia, but she didn't. What she did know was that the little town of Ilia in Kal was where Rue said she would find this Tai character. She also knew that Kal was the most northern part of the Elorian Province and had been a known Crow's Nest from the moment the war started. However, its distance from the Capital and its unimportance to the State in terms of trade, finances and resources had left it largely untouched. The State cared little about that area, assuming it to be poor, worthless and unimportant. Frankly, the state probably assumed that whatever Crows lived there would die from poverty before they ever had a chance to try and rebel again.

Whatever the case, Niall was right, poverty or not, it wouldn't be a surprise for the remaining Original Crows to be hiding in Kal. It was almost as if they were hiding in plain sight, in a spot that the State couldn't care less about.

"What do you know about Ilia, Milo?" Niall asked.

"It is rather unassuming and relatively safe for a town in Kal," Milo said, easily proving his genius and ability to just know things. "Actually, Ilia is the only town in Kal that we get any form of knowledge from. I believe they publish the only newspaper in the entire region."

Niall was once again deep in thought. "And nothing of significance has ever come out from them?"

"Nothing, Sir," Milo said. "Frankly I'd assume it was a regular, peaceful little town if it weren't for the fact that it was in the middle of Kal."